The invention relates to a culture tray for growing young plants and having pots which are moulded to a cover plate of the culture tray in parallel rows and oriented downwardly with respect to the cover plate, the pots having holes at their bottoms, and the cover plate having a circumferential edge pointing downwardly.
A conventional culture tray of this kind includes pot-like depressions or pots in parallel rows, the depressions or pots being open at their top and having at their bottom an opening of smaller diameter. The small opening in the bottom enables the compressed root balls together with the young plant therein to be pushed from the bottom out of the pot-like depression and to let excess water drain. This culture tray is rectangular in shape and has a circumferential edge.
The invention has as its object providing a culture tray which when empty can be stacked one on another without any vertical spacing, and when containing young plants can be stacked with vertical spacing for transport and shipment, enabling the construction of stable stacks of great heights.
This object is achieved according to the invention in that the culture tray has a first row which, instead of the two outermost pots, has two supports, and wherein the last row has, instead of the two pots located second from the end, two supports which are hollow and open at the bottom and are oriented upwardly. Each one of the two pots in the first row located second from the end includes a supporting ring at its bottom, each of the two outermost pots in the last row includes a supporting ring at its bottom. The upper end of each support has a centering shoulder.
In this manner a culture tray for growing young plants is obtained that totally solves the aforementioned problem. In addition, the individual culture trays are stable and the stacks formed with these culture trays are also very stable, and in particular can be stacked with vertical spacing or stacked without any vertical spacing.
In another embodiment of the invention the supports exhibit in their walls facing inwardly of the culture tray one opening each. This enables the culture tray to be grasped in the openings by grippers of a conveyor, lifted, moved and set down again.
Expediently, the support rings can include lateral recesses at the bottom of the two outermost pots and the two second outermost pots. Thus, it is ensured that excess water can drain from these pots through the lateral recesses when these pots stand upright in a stack of culture plates on the opposite supports of the culture plate located below.
Moreover, it is recommended that the pots be connected with stabilizing webs below the cover plate.
In addition, one part of the stabilizing webs can be extended toward the bottom by an identical amount in a specific pattern.
Furthermore, the circumferential edge can exhibit a bottom notch at each of the four sides of the culture tray. Thus, it is possible to grasp the culture tray with grippers of a conveyor, lift, move and set it down again.
The invention will be explained in detail in the following with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings.